Muskegon opening first new school in over 60 years
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — Muskegon Public Schools is unveiling the district’s first new school building in over 60 years.
For Muskegon Public Schools, it’s out with the old and in with the new. When sixth through eighth-grade students go to class this fall, they’ll do so in the newly constructed $35 million Charles Hackley Middle School.
“It is tremendously exciting. It’s hard to describe because we’re giving the students something they haven’t seen in 67 years,” Matthew Cortez, superintendent of Muskegon Public Schools, said.
The building on Clinton Street, just blocks away from Muskegon High School, can hold more than 900 students.
Inside the school, there are features like 45 classrooms, an 11,000-square-foot gymnasium, four private stalled restroom areas, a track and football field, and a $250,000 science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) lab.
“The way your building looks, the way your classroom looks, reflects the amount of care a student thinks you have for them. This is huge because this says you’re the most important thing in our district,” Cortez said.
There are also a number of enhanced safety or security features.
Charles Hackley Middle School has a blue light system to inform students to seek shelter during an emergency, rooms with key card access and security cameras.
“Our students have to feel safe in an environment, and this isn’t about Muskegon, this is about our country right now,” Cortez said. “This building needs to exist for 50 years. What are we not thinking of that could pop up in the next 10 or 20 years?”
The new school was made possible after voters approved a $104 million bond in 2020.
The building is also located at the site of the old Mercy Hackley Hospital. The former Mercy Health system donated 15 acres of land for construction.
“It wasn’t really anything that we had to make a decision about because our community just guided us in that direction,” Cortez said.
As Muskegon Public Schools undergoes academic restructuring, with the goal of every high school graduate knowing what they want to do next, Cortes says the middle school will play a big part.
“I want to see that fire, ‘I want to go to the high school, I want to go into that last stage where I can actually experience the career I want to do, the pathway I want to explore,'” Cortez said.
The old Muskegon Middle School will close down and be repurposed.
If you want to check out the new middle school, it will host a community celebration on Thursday from 5:15 p.m. to 7 p.m.
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